Baby exerciser



A' K. ALBIN BABY EXERG I SEE Sept. 6, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 21, 1963 A T TORNE Y5 Sept. 6, 1966 A. K. ALBIN 3,

BABY EXERCISER Filed May 21, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Tiq-3.

5W vi a ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,271,028 BABY EXERCISER Alvina K. Albin, Oakland, Calif. (9 Redwood Road, San Anselmo, Calif.) Filed May 21, 1963, Ser. No. 282,015 4 Claims. (Cl. 272-57) This invention relates to baby appliances in general, and is particularly directed to a device for the retentive support of a small baby in a pseudo kneeling-prone position with a substantial freedom of movement of the arms and legs to facilitate exercise and conditioning conducive to the act of crawling, or as it is more popularly termed, creeping.

Before a small baby is able to crawl or creep, the arm and leg muscles must develop sufiiciently to support the babys weight. In addition the baby must be conditioned to the assumption of a creeping position and the conduct of coordinated arm and leg movements.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a baby exercising device which is arranged to encourage development and conditioning of a small baby towards creeping.

Another object of the invention is to provide a baby exercising device of the class described which is adapted to support a baby in a normal creeping position and to retain the baby against falling while othewise permitting full freedom of movement.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a baby exerciser of the class described which includes a curved support upon which a baby may be placed face down with its midportion on the crown of the support, and a retaining harness anchored to the support which may be strapped about the midportion of the baby to thereby hold the baby upon the support while permitting freedom of movement of the arms and legs.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a baby exerciser of the class described wherein the retaining harness is readily adjustable to fit babies of varied size.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a baby exerciser of the class described which may be provided with a padded cover removably secureable in overlying relation on the support to facilitate ready maintenance and cleaning.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a device of the class described which is simple and economical in construction.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawings accompanying and forming part of the specification. It is to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by the said drawings and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a baby exerciser in accordance with the present invention, and depicting the position of a baby supported thereon.

FIGURE 2 is an exploded perspective view of the baby exerciser.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken at a longitudinal plane through the baby exerciser.

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3, but of a modified form of the exerciser.

Considering now the invention in some detail and referring to the illustrated forms thereof in the drawings, there will be seen to be provided a baby exerciser which generally includes a padded curved support for placement upon the floor, and a body harness secured to the support for strapping about the midportion of a small baby. Thus, the baby may be placed face down upon the support with the crown of the support engaging the midportion of the baby and the harness strapped in place. The baby is thus supported in a creeping position, as indicated in FIGURE 1, the legs of the baby being in a kneeling position adjacent one end of the base of the support, the babys trunk being in an elevated position upon the support, and the arms of the baby being draped over the other end of the support with the hands free for positioning upon the floor adjacent the base of the support. The harness prevents the baby from going over the support on its head when kicking. Yet, the harness permits full freedom of movement of the babys arms and legs. Thus the baby may move its arms and legs freely, and in so doing develops the muscles requisite to creeping. Moreover, by virtue of the position of support, the baby is conditioned and encouraged to creep.

Considering now the preferred structure of the baby exerciser outlined hereinbefore, and referring to FIG- URES l-3, the support is generally indicated at 11 and advantageously includes a support base '12 and a padded cover 13 removably secured to the upper surface of the base. The base 12 is curved and includes a curved upper wall 14 with substantially vertical end portions adjacent its lower edges. Opposed vertical side walls 15, 16 close the open ends of the arc defined by the upper wall. In addition, handles 17, 18 are preferably secured to the respective side walls 15, 16 and project upwardly above the crown of upper wall 14, to restrict transverse movement of a baby positioned upon the support. The sup port base including the handles 17, 18 may be advantageously integrally formed of plastic in the interests of simplicity and economy of construction.

The padded cover 13 is preferably of rectangular configuration and formed of a cushioning core 19 of a resilient material, such as foam rubber, enclosed within a covering 21 of flexible durable material, such as plastic. The cover includes a flap 22 along one end edge, preferably formed of the upper and lower walls of the covering 21 in secured juxtaposed relation. In addition, the cover includes a transverse strip 23 formed of secured juxtaposed portions of the upper and lower walls of the covering, and this strip is longitudinally spaced from the flap 22 by a distance substantially equal to the arcuate length of the top wall 14 of base 12. The cover further includes flaps 24, 26, along the side edges of the cover at positions medially of the portion of the cover which extends between the flap 22 and strip 23. Pluralities of snap fasteners 27 are respectively secured to the flaps and strip, and these fasteners are releasably engageable with pluralities of mating snapfasteners 28 carried by the support base 12. More particularly, the snap fasteners 28 are provided along the vertical end portions of upper wall 14 adjacent their lower edges and along the upper edges of side walls 15, 16 centrally thereof. Thus the fasteners 27 carried by flap 22 and strip 23 may be readily engaged with the fasteners 28 of the end portions of the upper wall, and the fasteners 27 carried by flaps 24, 26 engaged with fasteners 28 of the side walls, to releasably secure the cover 13 to the support base 12. The cover portion 29 between the flap 22 and strip 23 thereby pads the upper wall of the support base. The cover portion 31 on the opposite side of the strip 23 projects outwardly from the lower end edge of the base and rests upon the floor to thereby provide a padded support for the knees of a baby positioned upon the exerciser.

With regard to the body harness of previous mention, the same may be of any conventional type, preferably adjustable. In this regard, the harness is advantageously provided as shown at 34. Harness 34 includes a belt 36,

adapted to encircle the midportion of a baby, and having a buckle 37 for fastening the opposite ends of the belt in an adjustable manner. A pair of shoulder straps 38, 39 respectively extend between opposed points of the belt to encircle the shoulders of a baby from front to rear. The straps are each preferably provided with a snap fastener 41 at one end which, subsequent to looping of the strap end around the belt, may be engaged with any one of a plurality of mating snap fasteners 42 provided at spaced positions of the strap. The shoulder straps are thus adjustable to accommodate babies of different sizes. The harness 34 is secured to the support 11, as by means of a strap 43 secured to the belt 36 at an intermediate position thereof. The position of attachment of strap 43 is thus opposite the buckle 37 when the ends of the belt are secured to provide a loop. The strap 43 is in turn secured to the support 11, and this is preferably facilitated by securance of the strap to the cover 13 at the midpoint of strip 23. The strap may be secured as by stitching to the cover, although a snap fastener arrangement may be provided to this end where it is desired that the harness be removable from the cover.

With the harness 34 secured to the support 11 by strap 43 as just described, it is to be noted that the belt conveniently buckles at the back of a baby placed upon the support. In addition, the shoulder strap fasteners 41, 42 are preferably positioned at the back for convenience of strapping the harness about a baby. With a baby strapped Within the harness and positioned upon the support, as depicted in FIGURE 1, it will be appreciated that strap 43 prevents the baby from going forward over the support on its head. The strap 43 does, however, permit move ment of the baby in all other directions.

Although the baby exerciser has been described hereinbefore as including a removable padded cover as a component of the support, it should be noted that the padded cover may be provided as an integral component of the support. More particularly, as illustrated in FIG- URE 4, a modified support 44 may be provided which includes parallel spaced side walls 16 of generally rectangular configuration with curved edge portions interconnecting the top edge and side edges thereof. The side walls are interconnected by a pair of cross member-s 47 which extend therebetween adjacent the lower ends of the respective side edges of each wall. A pair of cross members 48 are likewise provided adjacent the intersections of the top edge with the curved edge portion of each wall. A padded cover 49 is then secured at its opposite ends to the cross members 47, to extend therefrom arcuately over the cross members 48. A separate knee pad 51 is secured to one of the cross members 47 and is thus comparable to the cover portion 31 of the previous em bodiment. In addition, a pair of separate handles 52 are secured to the side walls 16, as by means of bolts 53.

What is claimed is:

1. A baby exerciser comprising a support base having a curved upper wall surface with handles projecting upwardly from the crown of said upper wall surface adjacent the side edges thereof, a padded cover having a first portion adapted to overlie said upper wall surface and a second portion extending from the first, means for removably securing said first portion of said padded cover to said upper wall surface in overlying relation thereto, said second portion of said cover thereby extending from said support base adjacent the lower portion of the upper wall surface thereof, a body harness, and a strap secured at one end to said harness and at the other end to the junction between the first and second portions of said cover.

2. A baby exerciser comprising a generally rectangular support base having a curved upper wall and side Walls at its opposite ends, said support base having a pair of handles projecting upwardly from said side walls above the crown of said upper wall, snap fasteners secured to the upper wall of said base adjacent its lower edges and to said side walls adjacent the crown of said upper wall, a rectangular padded cover, said cover having a first flap along one end edge thereof, said cover having a depressed transverse strip at an intermediate position thereof, said cover having second and third fiaps along the opposite side edges thereof at a position medially of said first flap and said strip, a pluralities of snap fasteners secured to said flaps and said strip, the snap fasteners of said first flap and strip engaging said snap fasteners adjacent the lower edges of said upper wall, said snap fasteners of said second and third flaps engaging said snap fasteners adjacent the crown of said upper wall, a body harness, and a strap secured at one end to said harness and at the other end to the center of said strip of said cover.

3. A baby exerciser comprising a generally rectangular support including side walls and interconnecting cross members and a padded cover secured to said cross members and arcuately extending over said cross members to define a curved upper support surface, a pair of handles secured to said side walls and projecting above the crown of said support surface, a knee pad secured to a cross member of said support at the lower end thereof, and a body harness secured to a cross member of said support.

4. A baby exerciser comprising a supporting member having an arch shaped top portion and downwardly extending portions at the opposite ends thereof for engagement with a substantially flat horizontal extraneous surface to support the arch portion in vertically spaced relation from said surface, said arch portion and said end portions being in fixed relation to each other and combining to provide a support for the baby from the knees to the arms when the baby is positioned face-down thereon lengthwise between said ends, said arch portion being of substantially the same form from one side edge to the other and being of a width substantially greater than the width of the babys body when supported thereon, said top surface being of substantially the same contour from the center to the opposite ends, a padded cover detachably secured to said member and overlying same from end to end, a harness for the baby when positioned thereon including a strap secured to said supporting member at one of said end portions and formed to extend over said arched portion toward the other end portion, means secured to said strap for encircling the body and engaging the shoulders of the baby when positioned on the supporting member, and means provided at the side edges of the top portion of the supporting member and extending above said cover to prevent the baby from slipping over the sides of the member when positioned on such surface.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,034,954 3/1936 Murphy 128-134 2,413,395 12/1946 Ware 272-58 2,475,003 7/1949 Black 269-322 X 2,839,766 6/1958 Hull 5-327 X 2,887,151 5/1959 Springer 5-327 X 3,042,025 7/1962 Jackson 12870 X 3,071,410 1/1963 Gaskins.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

L. I. BOVASSO, Assistant Examiner. 

3. A BABY EXERCISER COMPRISING A GENERALLY RECTANGULAR SUPPORT INCLUDING SIDE WALLS AND INTERCONNECTING CROSS MEMBERS AND A PADDED COVER SECURED TO SAID CROSS MEMBERS AND ARCUATELY EXTENDING OVER SAID CROSS MEMBERS TO DEFINE A CURVED UPPER SUPPORT SURFACE, A PAIR OF HANDLES 